


Danny/Reader: Wish you were here (Title Pending)

by Pinky_cheeks



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Divorce, F/M, Music, Reader-Insert, Rekindled love, more tags to come, some strong language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:57:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9692543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinky_cheeks/pseuds/Pinky_cheeks
Summary: You escaped to Chicago to try and find what you most wanted: stability and consistency. Something you weren't getting when you were with Dan in California. But one chilly October afternoon, you'd get a call from your past.





	1. Chapter 1: October

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by NSP's cover of "Wish you were here" by Pink Floyd. Let's hope I actually stick with this story because I see a lot of ideas for it.

I'm so thankful for taking acting lessons. 

Because my god, they come in handy with producing. This is the third time this girl sings off key – I'm talking WAY off – and I hear it up close and personal from the headset. 'I'm going to go deaf if I have to hear her go sharp again,' I take off the headset and run my hand through my hair. I press the intercom button, "Alright sweetie, I, uh, think we're done for today." There's a silent, conjugal sigh of relief between me and the mixer, Alex. "Alex and I will wrap up here, and Angela up front will help you book another studio time." The girl - who, I assume, was lied to by someone in her life about her singing ability - happily nodded. She thanks us before bounding out of the studio, phone in hand. I only assume she was asking her father to buy her more studio time. As much as I don't want to go deaf, I still need the money. 

"I don't know how you do it, _____," Alex leans back in his chair. "If that was my kid, I wouldn't have lied straight to her face like her parents did." He plays back the recently recorded clip and neither of us could help but laugh at how awful she sounds. I pinch the bridge of my nose, hopeful to squeeze the headache through my nostrils. 

"Work your magic, love." I pat his shoulder before turning for the door, "I'm taking lunch, you should too." I walk out of the studio, down the hall, then past the receptionist desk. I tell Angela to take messages if any calls come in for me. As I walk through the front doors, I meet a crisp, late-September afternoon wind. The Chicago streets are bustling with people who all have one thing in their minds: food and where to find it. 

I settle on a small bistro down the street. I choose a table by the windows, where the cool air still manages to seep through. The air is as different as the quality of life here in Chicago than California. Everyone seems to get crabbier when the weather starts to turn, understandable. I've lived here for about five years and I still haven't gotten used to the bitter cold that’s, normally, right around the corner. But this fall has been pretty mild, so it's not too different from California. The waiter comes to my table and sets my food down, I nod a thank you before taking a big bite of my sandwich. I don’t regret moving to Chicago, well that's a half truth. But I'd like to think I'm happy here, I have a well paying job, a nice apartment, and a fiancé; everything a girl needs, right? 

Maybe... 

I linger after lunch, walking around downtown for as long as I can to avoid going back into the dark hole of the studio. I said its a well paying job, I never said I like it. It's not that I hate producing, I just hate who I'm producing for. It's a shitty, "on the rise" record label that will sign everyone and anyone who's willing to give them money. Not the most dignifying job. I'd like to go back to California or New York to find a better label, but my fiancé Kyle is already married to his job, and it's impossible for him to move. So he says. He can be stubborn sometimes. 

I look at the time on my phone and see that the hour is coming to a close, so I head back to the office. When I walk through the door, Angela calls me over to the desk. "Some guy called looking for you," She slid me a post-it note and I almost dropped my purse along with my stomach. 

Why is he calling me?


	2. Chapter 2: Fuck it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You gather the courage to finally call him. But not before a quintessential flashback.

I'm still thankful for those acting classes. I paint on my prettiest fake smile and thank Angela for the message. I hurry onto the elevator and force the breath I was holding out through my mouth. "Just... calm down.. There has to be a reason Dan is calling you," I say to my reflection in the elevator doors. The elevator dings and the doors open, 'But what the hell WAS the reason?!' I walk quickly to my office and slump into my desk chair. 

Then the memories started rushing, starting with the worst (and most recent) memory. 

~Five years earlier~ 

I had enough. 

I missed him. 

I was miserable. 

We went to California to follow our dreams. Mine was to start producing, Dan's was to start his second band, Ninja Sex Party, with his friend Brian. We packed a truck, his car and we were well on our way. We had been dating for a year or so before we went to California, and the conversation had come up. He warned me that he was going to be on the road a lot, out of the apartment. 

I thought I could handle it. 

But too many nights spent alone, dwindling libido, and an empty apartment can drive one up the walls. I found myself getting irritable, i threw myself into my schoolwork and job to distract myself from the fact that we weren't going to last very long. He drove me crazy in all the right ways. He was funny, charming, sweet, and that laugh and singing voice would put angel choirs to shame. He made my heart happy. But the situation didn't. 

I sat at the small table in our kitchen. Dan said that he was going be home early and I was already playing the scenario in my head. He was going to waltz in, humming as he does, kiss me, and charm me out of making this decision. There were so many nights that I was going to do this, but then I see him and my heart melts and I forget about doing it. But I've had enough. I had to be strong and fight melting again. I was terrified; Dan wasn't the person you could hurt and then sleep at night immediately after. 

I had everything planned. My bag was packed, sitting beside me. I already had a ticket to Chicago and a living situation figured out when I got there. My thoughts dropped along with my stomach when I heard the door open. I heard the humming and my heart started racing. I stood up, swallowing the lump in my throat. "_______?" Dan called as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. I saw his smile die on his face when he saw the suitcase sitting beside me. "What's-" 

"I'm leaving, Dan." I cleared my throat. The color drained from his face. "I'm leaving. I'm not happy here. I know we talked about this, I thought-" I choked back tears. "I thought I could handle it. But I can't," Oh god the tears are welling in his eyes. "I'm leaving for Chicago, there's-" 

"Wait! Just- fuck, fucking wait a second." He started to plead, stepping closer. "Please... ______, can't we talk about this? I'm here. W-we have time to-" 

"Yeah we FINALLY have time, after how long?!" I started getting angry, "We've been living here for months and now we finally have time. I can't keep doing this, Dan. It gets so fucking lonely here, and I've tried mentioning it, but you've dismissed it. Well I'm done with being dismissed and being set aside. Did you even realize you missed my birthday since we've been here?" He had a quick expression of confusion on his face before it faded to realization. "I can chase my dream somewhere else. With someone more...dependable." 

I pick up my suitcase and push past him, but he catches my hand. "Please..." His voice sounds broken, pleading. It took every ounce of my will power to pull my hand from his grip. I walked out the door and never looked back. 

~~ 

And here I am now. Five years later, staring at a phone number on a hot pink post-it. I log onto my computer and pull up Facebook. I start scrolling through his page and I see that he's accomplished his dream. He's practically famous. Internet famous, but still famous. I google his name and found his youtube channel, both Game Grumps and Ninja Sex Party's. "Well look at you Mr. Hotshot," I find myself grinning. Despite the shitty situation years ago, he's still my friend and I couldn't be prouder. I click back to his Facebook page and my heart goes a flutter, just like it did when I first met him. I chewed on my lower lip and glanced at his number on the post-it. 

"Fuck it." I pick up my cell phone and dial the number. It rang once, twice, three times, and then a fourth before it picked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3: Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phone conversations are hard. Especially when its an ex you thought were completely over.

"Hello?"

I fell silent, I completely forgot how to talk. How do humans talk? 'Make word, _____!' My mind repeated until my vocal cords reconnected.

"Helloooo?" Dan calls from the other side of the phone.

I gulp, "U-uh hey, hey Dan! It's ______, " I lean back in my chair and start nervously playing with my necklace.

There's a commotion on the other side before Dan speaks again, "_______! Hi! So you got my message? Obviously, or else you wouldn't be calling me. Uhhh, how- how you've been?"

There's a nagging feeling in the back of my head saying that this is a bad idea, that I should hang up immediately. "I've, uh, been good! I'm engaged now! How've you been?" God, this is agony. 

He chuckles nervously, "Oh shit! Congratulations, the guy – or girl! - is a very lucky person." I could hear defeat in his voice before he clears his throat to cover it. "I've been good! California's been kind to me and Brian, yknow?" 

"Yeah, yeah I saw. You're practically famous!" My chest starts to loosen up. God, he can make a glacier melt. Fuck, this is BAD! 

He laughs more genuinely now, "I wouldn't say famous! Just internet famous." 

"Really? Because those 396,000 followers on twitter says differently." He laughs, god I love when he laughs. And my heart jumps when I'm the one who makes him laugh. 

BAD. NO. 

I settle my breath and grow serious. I can't let myself fall for him, again. I'm happy here, I'm happy with Kyle. "So why are you calling me, Dan?" My tone is soft, but firm. 

His tone changes from goofy to hopeful. "Well, uh, it looks like our NSP tour is bringing us to the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago." Uh, oh. "I was just calling to see - that is if you're still in Chicago - if you wanted to meet up? We’d have a day before and after the concert, so I was thinking we could do it one of those days?" 

Lie! Tell him you've relocated, its plausible, we have two locations. "I, uh, I'd like that. It'd be nice to see you again, Dan." 

I hate myself. 

He lets out a laugh of relief, "That's amazing! Awesome, totally rad! We'll be in the city September 30th. 'We' as in me, Brian, our buddy Arin and the guys from TWRP. Y'know, the whole – well you know what I mean!" 

I smile, "It’s a date." I quickly, but sloppily recover, "But not because, well yknow.. Im engaged." 

I loathe myself. 

We quickly finish our good-byes. I put down my phone and rest my face in my hands. This is bad. 

This is so bad. After all these years he still manages to make me feel all gross and gooey on the inside. Yet, a small part of me did not mind at all. 

~Dan's POV~ 

I hang up the phone, and rest the hand it's in beside me on the bed. 'She's engaged.' 

"Who was that, Danny boy?" Arin comes galumphing into the room from the bathroom and flops onto his bed. 

"Oh," I smile, but my chest still hurt. "Just an old friend." 

Arin shoots me a confused look, "Friend? That conversation sounded a little too cordial to be a friend." 

I laugh, "Alright you caught me, she was more than a friend way back when." I looked over at Arin who's 'ooh'ing and 'ahh'ing and making dumb kissey faces. It annoyed me a little more than it would now that I know she's engaged. "She said yeah, but she's also engagey so its whatever, yknow?" I get off the bed and huff over to the bathroom, not hearing Arin's protests that I shouldn't go in there. I take one step in and immediately step out. I glare at him, and then break into a laugh. "God, you're a fucking poop machine." 

Arin beats on his chest, "You know it, bro!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated, hope you enjoyed!


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